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Swirling, turning, stirring I usually have at least a vague idea of the form I’d like to pursue when I begin designing, but in this case I started with just two words: spin and fold. “Spin” implies movement, in this case visual movement, and “fold” plays with angles and changes of plane. I built a series of 1⁄4-scale models, letting the shape evolve as I went. I introduced light and dark woods when I thought the “spin” detail was not emphasized enough. After I was happy with the design, I made full-size models to nail down the joinery. The design of the top represented a separate dilemma. At one point it was quite tall and looked like a dunce cap—and it went downhill from there when it started to look like the proportions of a concrete bunker. The final design solves that problem, and the lid must be twisted slightly to get it on and off. —Michael Fortune Light, refreshing, and practical This tea box is one of four I designed and made (not one of them was made of cherry!). This one became more of a tea basket. The material—white pine and torrified poplar—was left over from a previous project. I wanted a little contrast between the woods in the basket, and the torrified poplar, which looks almost like black walnut, looks great set against the pine. I milled all of the pieces 1⁄4 in. square, then cut them to length. The solid bottom has alternating strips of pine and poplar, while the sides and dividers are stacked to give it a light, airy look. Pine handles on each end are carved with slight curves to keep the basket from looking like just another rectilinear box. —Christian Becksvoort Pennsylvania tea box Outside Philadelphia, a venerable Quaker retreat center has some of Pennsylvania’s oldest trees. Several were damaged by storms that have pounded the East Coast in recent years. One storm took out a walnut tree. Another took down a limb of a beech believed to be the largest and oldest of its kind in the state. The retreat center contacted about 30 woodworkers to make and donate a piece made from the fallen trees to be auctioned as a fund-raiser. This box is one of a pair I made from that truly amazing wood. When I picked up the material, the walnut was what I expected: medium-size boards with several defects but truly great color. The beech was a different story— stacks of 4/4 and 8/4 spalted planks both wide and long. The branch that had dropped was larger than many of the “mature” trees around it. Respecting the Quaker value of simplicity, I made a basic box accentuating the figure of the beech and adding inlay, in this case tea leaves, to the top. It was a humbling experience working with wood from a tree that was standing when William Penn was granted the charter for his colony. —Steve Latta 29